Process for treating waste water

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a process for the treatment of waste waters of the forest industry. According to the invention, waste water is pre-treated biologically, whereafter the further treatment is carried out by using Fe(II) salt and hydrogen peroxide.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to a process for treating waste water produced in the forest industry, in which process the waste water is further treated with chemicals after a biological treatment.

The waste waters of the forest industry contain varying amounts of dissolved and solid organic and inorganic substances derived from the raw materials used. The waste waters thus pollute the watercourses into which they are discharged. Solid insoluble substances make the water turbid and form a layer of sludge on the floor of the watercourse. Organic substances, regardless of whether they are dissolved or solid, consume oxygen from the water and directly or indirectly give it a taste or odor.

In spite of the fact that in the past 10-20 years the production of pulp has multiplied in Finland, the waste water load caused by the forest industry has been substantially reduced. The solution to the problem of waste water has, especially in Finland, been the activated sludge process, in which the organic substance is decomposed by micro-organisms. By the activated sludge process, as well as by other biological processes, it is possible to remove from waste water primarily small-molecular organic matter which causes biological oxygen demand (BOD).

The licence conditions set by the authorities presuppose, for reasons of environmental protection, also the removal of solids from waste waters. Solids have indeed been removed by using combinations of biological and chemical processes.

When the activated sludge process is used, the reduction of matter causing chemical oxygen demand (COD), as well as of nutrients such as phosphorus and nitrogen, remains considerably lower than the reduction of matter causing biological oxygen demand. Nutrients are derived not only from waste waters themselves but also from the chemicals possibly added at the biological treatment stage.

It is known to remove large-molecular organic matter (COD) and phosphorus from waste waters by means of chemical precipitation, for example by using aluminum or iron coagulants.

DE application publication 2 521 893 (SCA Development AB) proposes the removal of color and the matter which causes chemical oxygen demand (COD), present in the waste waters from pulp production, especially in waste liquors, by means of hydrogen peroxide and a ferrous salt. However, a satisfactory removal of the matter causing biological oxygen demand is generally not achieved by the use this method.

A process based on oxidation for the treatment of waste waters is also otherwise known. The oxidation of waste water is carried out by using hydrogen peroxide, the oxidative action of which can be enhanced by means of a catalyst, for example, a metal ion, UV light, or ozone.

The latest licence conditions for the waste waters of the forest industry set high requirements on emissions; not only the removal of matter causing chemical oxygen demand (COD) and of phosphorus but also the removal of organic chlorine compounds (AOX) is required. Organic chlorine compounds are formed in connection with bleaching with chlorine chemicals. Since nitrogen, in the form of both organic and inorganic, dissolved, insoluble and colloidal compounds, is also present in the waste waters, the reduction of nitrogen emissions has been set as an objective in licence conditions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a process for the treatment of the waste waters of the forest industry, enabling the stricter licence conditions to be fulfilled. The process provides an efficient method of eliminating the environmental load of both matter causing biological oxygen demand and matter causing chemical oxygen demand, as well as phosphorus, nitrogen and organic halogen compounds.

By the process according to the invention, strict licence conditions can be fulfilled in a simple manner by combining a biological treatment process and a process in which chemicals can be used which in themselves will not cause further environmental problems.

The characteristics of the process according to the invention are given in the accompanying patent claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

In the process according to the present invention, waste waters from the forest industry are first treated biologically. The waste waters of pulp and paper mills are directed to a biological treatment plant, for example to an activated sludge plant or an aerated pond, in which a large proportion of the small-molecular organic matter can be removed. The biologically treated waste water is then precipitated by means of a ferrous salt (Fe²⁺) and hydrogen peroxide, by adding the chemicals simultaneously or almost simultaneously to the waste water.

The ferrous salt and the hydrogen peroxide are added either simultaneously or by adding the ferrous salt first and the hydrogen peroxide immediately thereafter. Before the adding of the hydrogen peroxide, the pH must be adjusted by means of a mineral acid, for example sulfuric acid. It is also advisable to adjust the pH before the adding of the ferrous salt. The pH range of the system may be 3.5-6. The optimum pH is within the range 3.7-4.2.

The ferrous salt is preferably ferrous sulfate. The amount of ferrous sulfate to be added depends on the type of the waste water. The hydrogen peroxide used may have a concentration of 30-50%.

The weight ratio of the ferrous salt to the hydrogen peroxide may vary within 1:0.01-1:0.3, preferably 1:0.1-1:0.2.

The precipitate which contains impurities may be separated either by settling or by flotation with or without a polyelectrolyte.

By the process according to the invention, in particular the amounts of nitrogen, organic halogen compounds, phosphorus and chlorophenols can be reduced significantly as compared with the processes currently used.

The invention is described in greater detail in the following non-limiting examples and with the help of test results obtained. In these examples

COD_(Cr) stands for chemical oxygen demand measured by the dichromate method,

BOD₇ stands for biological oxygen demand within seven days, and AOX stands for organic chlorine compounds.

EXAMPLE 1

Table 1 shows results of the precipitation of biologically treated waste water of a pulp mill with ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide.

                  TABLE 1                                                          ______________________________________                                         Precipitation, with ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide,                     of waste water taken from the overflow of the activated                        sludge plant of a pulp mill. Fe was added in the                               experiment at a rate of 160 mg/l waste water.                                          Before    After                                                                precipitation                                                                            precipitation                                                                             Reduction                                                 mg/l      mg/l       %                                                 ______________________________________                                         BOD.sub.7 13          3.3        75                                            COD.sub.Cr                                                                               730         100        86                                            AOX       20.1        2.5        88                                            N         2.87        0.44       85                                            P         1.04        0.04       96                                            Color number                                                                             2180        40         98                                            ______________________________________                                    

As can be observed from Table 1, a very good reduction of all of the parameters causing an environmental load is achieved by the process.

EXAMPLE 2

                  TABLE 2                                                          ______________________________________                                         Reduction (%) of COD, AOX, nitrogen (N), and                                   phosphorus (P) in the total waste water of a pulp plant in                     precipitation with ferrous sulfate and hydrogen, before and after              the activated sludge plant (ASP).                                                      Ferrous  COD.sub.Cr                                                                              AOX    N      P                                      Waste   kg/kg    reduction                                                                               reduction                                                                             reduction                                                                             reduction                              water   COD.sub.Cr                                                                              %        %      %      %                                      ______________________________________                                         Birch   2.5      64       66     95     96                                     before ASP                                                                     Birch   1.7      61       64     92     92                                     before ASP                                                                     Birch   1.5      85       84     85     97                                     after ASP                                                                      Birch   1.1      72       70     69     96                                     after ASP                                                                      ______________________________________                                    

As can be seen from Table 2, the consumption of, for example, ferrous sulfate is substantially higher and the purification result poorer with waste water which has not been treated biologically than with waste water which has been treated biologically.

It is especially advantageous to carry out the ferrous sulfatehydrogen peroxide precipitation on waste water from which small-molecular compounds which decompose easily have been removed, since these compounds otherwise increase the consumption of the precipitation chemicals and, nevertheless, are not precipitated. This is evident from Table 2, showing the results of precipitation of waste water before and after the activated sludge plant.

EXAMPLE 3

When ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide were added to waste water which has been treated in the sludge pond of a cardboard mill and does not contain dissolved oxygen (anaerobic state), precipitation does not occur. However, precipitation can be achieved by aeration, i.e. by dissolving oxygen from air into the waste water before the adding of ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide. Table 3 shows the results of precipitation experiments conducted in a laboratory.

                  TABLE 3                                                          ______________________________________                                         Fe.sup.2+  H.sub.2 O.sub.2                                                                        COD.sub.Cr                                                                             N    P    Reduction %                               mg/l       mg/l    mg/l    mg/l mg/l COD   N   P                               ______________________________________                                         Original                                                                               --     --      750   3.81 0.49 --    --  --                            waste                                                                          water                                                                          Anaerobic                                                                              105    45      no precipitation occurs                                 Anaerobic                                                                              105    60      no precipitation occurs                                 Aerated 105    45      290   1.46 0.02 61    62  96                            ______________________________________                                    

As can be seen from Table 3, when the waste water is anaerobic, no precipitation occurs even with a larger dose of hydrogen peroxide. In the oxidation reaction of ferrous iron and organic matter, soluble oxygen also serves as an oxidant.

EXAMPLE 4

Unclarified pulp and paper mill waste water which had been treated biologically and been aerated in the pond (Table 4) was precipitated in the laboratory by adding ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide to the waste water. Reference precipitation was carried out by using a metal salt (ferric sulfate). The pH of the waste water after all the additions of chemicals was 3.8. The weight ratio of ferrous sulfate to hydrogen peroxide was 1:0.05. The formed precipitate was separated by settling, and the clarified water was analyzed for turbidity, COD_(Cr), BOD₇, P, N, AOX, and CP (chlorophenol).

                  TABLE 4                                                          ______________________________________                                         Results for unclarified waste water                                                           Reduction %                                                     Property Initial level                                                                              FS + H.sub.2 O.sub.2                                                                     Metal salt                                      ______________________________________                                         Turbidity                                                                               116     NTU     97      75                                            COD.sub.CR                                                                              550     mg/l    78      68                                            BOD.sub.7                                                                               30      mg/l    83      >83                                           P.sub.tot                                                                               1.3     mg/l    97      84                                            N.sub.tot                                                                               9       mg/l    89      67                                            AOX      3.03    mg/l    67      36                                            CP       0.112   mg/l    23      0                                             ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 5

Biologically treated pulp and paper mill waste water which had been aerated in the pond and clarified (Table 5) was precipitated in the laboratory by adding ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide to the waste water. Reference precipitation was carried out by using a metal salt (ferric sulfate). The pH of the waste water after the addition of all the chemicals was 3.8. The weight ratio of ferrous sulfate to hydrogen peroxide was 1:0.05. The formed precipitate was separated by settling, and the clarified water was analyzed for turbidity, COD_(Cr), P, N, and AOX.

                  TABLE 5                                                          ______________________________________                                         Results for clarified waste water                                                             Reduction %                                                     Property Initial level                                                                              FS + H.sub.2 O.sub.2                                                                     Metal salt                                      ______________________________________                                         Turbidity                                                                               126     NTU     98      97                                            COD.sub.CR                                                                              505     mg/l    92      89                                            P.sub.tot                                                                               1.6     mg/l    94      88                                            N.sub.tot                                                                               8       mg/l    88      50                                            AOX      2.8     mg/l    83      65                                            ______________________________________                                    

EXAMPLE 6

Waste water flowing into and waste water flowing out of the activated sludge plant of a sulfate pulp mill were treated with ferrous sulfate and hydrogen peroxide. The ratios of the ferrous sulfate amounts to the hydrogen peroxide amounts were a) 1:0.10 and b) 1:0.20. The results in Table 6 show that the process is more effective in removing organic matter from biologically treated than from untreated waste water.

                  TABLE 6                                                          ______________________________________                                         Results before and after the activated sludge plant                                            Reduction %                                                            Ferrous sulfate                                                                          COD.sub.Cr       Turbidity                                   Waste water                                                                              mg/mg COD.sub.Cr                                                                           a         b    a    b                                    ______________________________________                                         Before ASP                                                                               0.77        3         59   0    96                                             0.5         62        69   96   93                                             2.3         64        74   92   92                                   After ASP 0.86        79        81   90   85                                             1.7         88        --   96   --                                             2.6         91        --   79   --                                   ______________________________________                                     

We claim:
 1. A process for treating waste water of at least one of a pulp mill and a paper mill, comprising:biologically treating the waste water by an activated sludge process; and chemically treating the biologically treated waste water by adding an Fe(II) salt to the biologically treated waste water and by adding hydrogen peroxide to the biologically treated waste water.
 2. The process according to claim 1, wherein the Fe(II) salt is ferrous sulfate.
 3. The process according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the weight ratio of the Fe(II) salt to hydrogen peroxide ranges from 1:0.01 to 1:0.3.
 4. The process according to claim 3, wherein the weight ratio of Fe(II) salt to hydrogen peroxide is 1:0.1-1:0.2.
 5. The process according to claim 1, wherein the biologically treated waste water is adjusted to a pH in the range of 3.5-6 before the adding of the Fe(II) salt and hydrogen peroxide.
 6. The process according to claim 5, wherein the biologically treated waste water is adjusted to a pH of 3.7-4.2.
 7. The process according to claim 1, wherein the Fe (II) salt and the hydrogen peroxide are added simultaneously.
 8. The process according to claim 1, wherein the Fe (II) salt and the hydrogen peroxide are added substantially simultaneously. 